I'm not a virgin!!

So, last Sunday (5k day--University of Toledo's Pi Kappa Something-or-other's Run for the Kids to benefit Children's Miracle Network) started out interestingly enough. When my friend, Jen, and I arrived at the registration / starting area for the 5k, we found nothing more than 5 or 6 other runners. We looked around a bit, talked with some of the other runners and sat in a warm building for a while--it was quite chilly (about 40 degrees). And then, about 30 minutes late, the very official-looking (sarcasm) registration table was set up in the middle of the parking lot between 2 cars. Three or four possibly hungover college guys (clad in jeans, a sweatshirt and FLIP FLOPS, no less ... it was 40 freakin' degrees!!) clumsily scanned the registration papers, handed out t-shirts, signed up a few more people and co-ordinated the start of the race. We were told what the layout of the course would be, that it would be marked and people would be on course to stop traffic as needed ... we were told all this by one guy standing in front of about 75-100 runners talking loudly. Not highly effective. No biggie, we figured there would be plenty of other runners we could follow. We were cold and looking forward to the start ... which was surprisingly official--a starter's pistol.

Bang! We were off and running. Woohoo! My first 5k! I was feeling all fluttery and excited. We started in the back of the pack and passed a few people early as everyone sorted out their pace. At the one mile mark (an orange cone on the side of the course), Jen told me our time was 10:15. Seriously?? That's faster than I've ever run before! Woohoo! At mile 2 (another orange cone and a frat guy with cups of water and a stopwatch) our time was 20:30. Seriously?? I was actually keeping pace at my fastest time ever?? Woohoo! Oh yeah, I had to pee, too. Darn it. That always happens. Just keep running. Third mile, we decided that for the last half mile we'd pick up the pace a bit and then really run the last tenth. Good plan--although I did doubt how much gas I'd have in the tank for either of those said plans. So, 2.6 miles into the 5k, we ran a little faster ... not a lot, but a little faster. I was tired, breathing hard and tired (did I mention that already?), but Jen was awesome. She's a great pep-talker, ego booster and drill sergeant trainer (but the nice kind). She helped me stay focused and encouraged me all the way. When we hit the last tenth, I had a surprising burst of energy / ability to stretch it out and kick it in for the finish. I was the 50th person across the line (no actual line, just the frat guys handing out popsicle sticks with numbers as the official place marker for the time stamp, and a table on the side of the course at the ending point) and my time was 31:36. Woohoo! That's a 10:12 pace ... the fastest I'd ever run before was 10:23, and that was only for one mile. Woohoo!!


So, yippee!! I ran my first 5k, was able to run with one of my best friends, did well and accomplished my goal of finishing in under 33:00 ... and had an adventure of an experience with the uber-professional set up--not! :D It was really a great experience for my first time ... now I'm not a (running) virgin.